


where we begin

by chwepen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 05:52:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18114608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chwepen/pseuds/chwepen
Summary: You never predicted the beginnings of things or saw the important moments or people in your life coming. Incredibly, he was one of them.





	where we begin

Some people know the instant something begins, the start of something new brimming with possibility that was palpable in the air. For you, it was not that simple. It seemed some things came into your life without warning or realization. You acknowledged your lack of perceptiveness long ago, knowing yourself well enough to barely sense those changes coming. A new job opportunity, an unexpected act of kindness, a person. Beginnings could be as subtle as a wisp of wind through your window, or as abrasive as thunder-claps rattling the entire room; regardless of the subtlety of life-altering events or lack thereof, you never caught on.

Lucky for you, Wong Yukhei isn’t subtle.

The first time Yukhei says, “Hello,“ he’s carrying an ottoman on his shoulder and a basketball with his opposite hand on a Friday morning. The door across from your apartment is halfway open, giving you ample opportunity to notice the manila moving boxes crowding the inner hallway inside the empty space. You knew the place was empty for weeks, the pain of Doyoung saying goodbye fresh in your memory. He was a hilarious neighbor and great friend, and while he didn’t leave your life, watching him go after three years left a noticeable pang of sadness. Having a new neighbor so soon felt foreign, unwelcome. But once Yukhei drops the ottoman carefully onto the small span of tile between your apartments and extends a hand, you know you can get used to new if new is this open and welcoming.

You give Yukhei your name with a smile, a soft yet large hand enveloping your smaller one. Almost forgetting what you were wearing, your cheeks turn a faint shade of pink. Yukhei catches it with the ghost of his own blush. You loved your duck-patterned pajama bottoms and tattered college sweatshirt, but the clothing wasn’t the best outfit to meet new people in. Then again, nobody dressed up on their day off to run downstairs and get their weekly mail. “Sorry. I didn’t know you’d be coming today.”

“It’s no problem. I should’ve moved in yesterday, but I had an emergency. Well, if you could call a friend needing a three-page recipe an emergency.” Yukhei grins and shrugs, twirling the ball between his hands.

You giggle, raising a finger to point towards the ball. “So, you play sports  _and_ cook?”

“Well, it’s my mom’s recipe. And my little brother left it at my last place.”

You nod slowly and begin your tread farther down the hallway, remembering your initial goal to grab your junk mail. “Well, Yukhei, it was great to meet you. If you need help unpacking, just give me a knock!”

“I definitely will!” Yukhei waves goodbye and offers you the widest grin you have seen yet, saccharine and sweet and immersed in all the kind gestures you didn’t realize you needed so early in the morning. He enters his new apartment without another turn of his head, while you wonder if this is the moment of realization the boy across the hall will be a welcome addition to your life.

* * *

Yukhei knocks on your door with a large to-go bag in one hand and the same grin he left you mesmerizing a day prior. “So, I know you probably offered to help me unpack since I have the ‘new neighbor’ card, but my friends are pretty busy today and it would be rude if I didn’t offer you food in return for actually helping me.” He raises the bag to hide his smile, making you beam back at him in earnest. “What do you say, neighbor?”

As he waits for your answer, you discover Wong Yukhei is already too sweet to not smile at all the time. And then some. “I say that sounds great. Lemme just get my keys.” You run to the counter to grab your phone and the keys to your place before following him into his apartment.

The boy truly has no shame as the two of you open all of his remaining boxes together, Yukhei confessing the origins of certain items you take out with a questioning, raised eyebrow. While he folds his clothes and sets them aside to move to his bedroom later, you tell him about your degree and how you can’t wait for the spring semester to end, one more step towards graduating.

You snap silly photos of him and take a few together to capture the moment. Other times, you laugh together and eat xiao long bao from plastic containers, sipping flat Sprites you don’t bother replacing. The clear attachment you have already developed with him is worth drinking a watered-down soda.

“What do you do in your free time,” you ask before downing what’s left in the can.

“I work with my friends in a small studio downtown. It’s not much, but we love it and it helps pay for this.” He gestures to the apartment with dramatic grandeur, almost knocking over his glass. “That’s actually why I’ve been moving most of this by myself. Before you helped, I mean. There’s this production issue we glossed over and my buddy Mark wants it smoothed out before the song’s released.”

“The music life. Both a beauty and a partial blunder?”

“It’s what I love. I don’t know where I’d be without it, to tell you the truth.” Yukhei chuckles, the sound rumbling in his throat.

You pat his shoulder with your hand. “I’m sure you’re doing great. You seem like a person who can find fun in anything. With your work, I have no doubt your friends need that.”

“Thanks,” he replies, ruffling a hand in his hair in hopes to conceal his red face, alongside his aggressively beating heart. “I bet you’re someone who keeps a lot of people calm and…I don’t know, grounded? You just give off this vibe like you know what you’re doing.”

You laugh again, pressing your empty glass against your chest. “You’re probably the first person that thinks that way about me.”

You have no doubt your friends and family think highly of you, but what would get Yukhei’s compliment laughed out of any room is the fact he thinks you have a consciously prepared bone in your body. Right or wrong, both options felt inconsequential, ridiculous, ready to make you burst into a fit of tears. Months ago, you couldn’t give Jaehyun an honest answer to his question about whether you liked his denim or leather jacket more without your hands clamming up. How did anyone, especially yourself, expect immense life choices to be perfectly and wholeheartedly decided on? If there was an option nestled between them, you prayed you could find it to pick in every other situation from that moment on. To this day, sometimes it feels like you stumble around for answers, only doing things halfway and never with full intentions.

You know these things about yourself. Still, you can’t contain the flutter in your heart due to him being so sure of you already, even if your expected doubt snuck in between his words. Still, unpacking Yukhei’s bathroom essentials, munching on childhood snacks together,  _Yukhei_ , feels right.

“That’s a good thing, though,” you mumble, his stare tickling the edges of your skin.

“Well, I’m flattered.” He winks at you, the gesture only solidifying every positive thought about him. He opens another box and removes the bubble wrap inside, and another bit of your heart silently belongs between the creases of his smile.

By the time you finish, the sun is setting and you’re sitting next to him with your backs drooping against the couch. You rub your belly in slow, tiny circles, full from the food and copious amount of snacks you munched on while moving the smaller trinkets and furniture.

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve known the pretzels and gummy worms would make you sick.” He pouts, staring down at your slumped body.

“No, it’s okay. Just another minute and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“You were never in my hair, although it is fantastic.”  _The boy’s confidence could be seen from space_ , you think as the corners of your lips rise.

Without warning, Yukhei sets his head in your lap as his eyelashes flutter to a close. “I mean it. I’ve had a lot of fun today.” One hand swipes through his bangs, right before resting on top of your own. “We just met, but it’s like you make things slow down. I’m not running around the place like an idiot or saying the wrong things for the first time. Does that make sense?”

You close your eyes too, letting the words rumble around in your head. Responding to them with the peace within your smile and squeeze of your hand, you know he’s smiling too without having to look down at him. “It does.”

* * *

In an array of textbooks, highlighters, and article clippings, Yukhei swipes through the academic words with a blue pen to mark important information for later. While it’s adorable watching him as he works, he has little to no foresight on the weekly topic in your Greek literature course.

Sincheng and Mark, your study partners, left hours ago, but you were left with a pile of additional reading your professor dumped on you, including the play you still had to read. The night seemed to only be beginning. With perfect timing, Yukhei popped his head out of his apartment door with a wink. His face eventually morphed into true concern at the clear defeat on your face.

Yukhei being Yukhei, he offered to take some stress off your back. In his words, “providing much-needed and gorgeous assistance” proved to be a great distraction for you. He definitely isn’t helping in the way he imagined, but watching his eyebrows furrow in concentration and catching clear delight on his face when he marks the “right” sentence makes the hours feel less tedious.

“I mean, why does Euripides have to be such a tragic writer? There’s nothing wrong with writing happy things now and then,” Yukhei says as he drops the pen onto the paper. Rolling closer to your spot on your bedroom floor, he pouts and puts his hands underneath his chin.

“Well, Yukhei, since he wrote tragic Greek plays, I think he was just creating what he knew. Like Sophocles, he just kept his daily life, culture, and religion in mind when he was writing.” You smile to yourself, skimming the lines of the last act within your textbook.

“Excuse me, Smarty. I’ll just nap while you do your own notes, then.” He leans against your thigh, the back of his head smushed into the fabric of your shorts.

You scoff. “I just read the materials and introduction! You give me too much credit.”

One of his eyes pops open, followed by him crossing his arms. “You still know things! Sometimes, you really don’t see that. And I’ve been your neighbor friend for what, a few weeks now? Give yourself more credit, babe.”

You refuse to acknowledge the pet names, knowing he’ll sense the change in your body if you do. Going for a lighthearted response, you stick your tongue out in his direction.  “Trust me, you give enough credit to yourself for the both of us.”

Yukhei says your name and sits up, mirroring your crossed-legged position. “Maybe I do, but only because I know how it feels to not give yourself the self-assurance you deserve.”

You gape in mock surprise. “Wong Yukhei, not sure of himself? I never would have guessed.”

“Yes, smart ass, I’m not flawless.” He laughs and knocks his fist softly into your shoulder. “When I was younger, sometimes people thought it was all an act, me being so ‘full’ of myself all the time. In a way it was, just to pretend that there weren’t times when I didn’t feel confident in what I could do and if I could do it. It still happens, but not as much as before.”

“That’s hard to believe.” You drop your head, staring at your hands in your lap.

He taps his fingers under your chin. “It’s true. Some days, it can be so difficult to believe you’re capable. But you are, in so many ways. Anyone who loves you could see that tenfold. But in the end, the person who needs to see that first is you. Nobody else.”

You wipe away the small tear prepared to stream down your face, knowing it is ridiculous to cry at the comforting advice Yukhei offers. But he manages to say all the right things every time you need them, in the face of all your hidden fears and critiques of yourself.

“Are you crying,” he asks, lips turning into a frown. He presses a hand to your cheek, prepared to catch any tears before they fall, but you shake your head softly.

“I’m not sad, I promise. I just—I meant it. You give me more credit than I ever give myself, and I know it’s a bad habit not to, but it feels good having someone else notice…how hard it can be, even if I’m still trying.”

His thumb rubs back and forth across the apple of your cheek, sentiment and patience etched into expression. “Someone has to, don’t they?”

Staring into his eyes, you notice how much they shine, even in the dim lighting of your desk lamp. You chastise yourself for never noticing how brown and bright they were before. With a tiny vow, you promise to admire them for as long as you can, whether out loud or in silence. As long as Yukhei feels admired in the way he always should be.

The twinkle in his irises reflects in his close-lipped smile, just as perfect as his gummy one. You don’t stop to think as you lean in to kiss the sharp line of his cheek, knowing you need him as much as his words. He parts his mouth in shock, the hand on your cheek still. “Thank you, Xuxi.”

When you rest your head on your pillow to sleep hours later, you still feel the shape of him on your lips and fondness of his stare on your skin.

* * *

A knock on your door reveals Yukhei with one of his hands cut up, a few scrapes visibly bleeding.

“Shit,” you curse, inspecting the cuts with your hands. He winces when you touch a deeper one, a hiss whistling through his teeth. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

“I dropped some glass cups. I didn’t know what happened to my broom, so I thought picking it up without it would be fine,” he mumbles, obviously embarrassed about the mishap.

You press a hand to his shoulder as a signal for him to step inside your apartment. He does, observing the living room. The fuzzy, polka dot blanket draped across your even fuzzier, gray couch and the rerun of some 90s comedy makes him smile to himself, unsure how someone can be kind and cute in the same instance.

You’ve both hung out many times since you helped him unpack, especially in your bedroom, but he’s never taken note of the smaller things in your place. Seeing the ins and outs of your life in the decor, the few dishes in your sink, family photos by the door, and pens left on the counter, he doesn’t feel like he’s intruding. Rather, he’s noticing the pieces of you and storing them away toremember later. That’s how the ache inside his chest would describe it. For now, at least.

“I have band-aids, ointment, and gauze in the bathroom. Sit down, Xuxi, and I’ll get some for you!” You sprint without a second thought, hoping you didn’t run out. No stranger to mishaps like accidental bruises and bumps, you came as prepared as possible.

When you walk back into the living room, he’s sitting with your blanket draped across his lap, and laughing at the part of  _Friends_ you paused. You smile to yourself and hold up the first-aid kit, grabbing his attention. “I come in peace. And with bandages.”

He pats the side next to him with his uninjured hand, clearly comfortable. “Please fix me up, Doc.”

The minutes pass quietly as Yukhei watches the rest of the episode and you treat his smaller cuts with small circular band-aids. You wrap the deeper gashes up with pale gauze, making sure to rub some cream on the wounds to start the healing process. As you grab more of the ointment from the tin, you realize Yukhei being hurt in any capacity feels unimaginable, painful even. While you have more than an inkling of what that means, you push it out of your mind to focus on caring for him.

When he’s patched up, you flick his wrist. “You’re good to go, sir.”

He grins in response. “You’re the best. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. That’s what neighbor friends are for right?” The two words together and on their own feel too simple to describe Yukhei as he is and what he means to you. He said it first the night before, but a larger part than you’d admit hopes he also wouldn’t use the same words if he could find better ones.

“Definitely,” he murmurs. Your faces rest less than a foot apart from each other, knees slightly touching. 

In any instance, you would have backed away quickly and given your new friend and neighbor a proper send-off back to his apartment. However, he’s so warm and inviting and  _here._ It had to be ridiculous to feel so safe in his presence this soon, but Yukhei was the least ridiculous person you knew. He could be vain, more confident in himself than the average person could be and satisfied with his own absurdity. Maybe some were turned off by those things, but they were only a few parts of his personality to adore about him. The exterior pieces to a beautiful interior. And adore you do, maybe too much and too fast in the month that you’ve known him. But if someone calls you senseless for that, then senseless is what you are.

Yukhei breaks the tension by saying, “So, I’m not the best cook, but you deserve a thank-you lunch…or dinner…or desert for this. And I may or may not be collecting my repayment after helping you with those articles right now so you say yes.” He grins again, charming and electrifying. “But what do you say?”

“To which one,” you murmur, beaming back at him.

“All of them? That is, if you’d want to?”

You’ve never been observant. Some cues went past your head entirely, and you knew this. But Yukhei’s skin so comfortably close to yours and the clear indication in his words that he’s asking you on more than one date, and all the times he’s believed in you before that, sends the gentlest calm across your skin. You can see him and read his intentions clearly, and you welcome the start of something new with open arms. There’s no right or wrong to be scared of, no choice to be any less certain about. How can you not be so completely sure of him when he looks at you the way he does? “I would love to.”

* * *

Three months or so after that, as Yukhei’s hand draws circles into the divot of your hip, you remember that tender stillness you felt after you first met, the first time you hung out together in what Yukhei called “your first not-first date” which you lovingly shoved him for, and the dates that followed. Most important, that stillness never disappeared or faded into the background. Not since the first time you saw him, not when he told you it was more than fine to leave most of your stuff at his place (especially your polka dot blanket), and not when he told you he loved you hours ago.

“What are you thinking about?” Yukhei pulls you from your thoughts with his question in the form of a raspy whisper. He kisses your bare shoulder peaking out of the comforter, the soft press of his lips reminding you the past could never be as rewarding as the present.

“You.”

“Oh? Only good things I hope.” He smirks, trailing his kisses up to your neck. “Or bad, I prefer both.” You giggle at the few swipes of his tongue on the hollow of your throat, but you tug on the ends of his hair to pull his attention back to your face.

“The best things, about you and us. How I still get excited every time I see you, how easy it is to make you smile. How you make me feel as though I can do anything, because I have all the power in the world to do it.” You stroke the corners of his mouth, pulling them up and down to make him laugh. “Because you love me, and I love you.”

In his laughter, he wraps his hands around your waist, pulling you closer. Peppering his face with kisses, the two of you fall deeper inside the sheets, the only space in the world for the two of you. The smell of his cologne lingers on his body, your favorite smell. You breathe it in as he says, “Double ditto.” He presses another set of kisses into your neck. “Because I love you, too.”

The sunlight peaks in through Yukhei’s curtains when you retreat from underneath the comforter, the signal of a new day. Another set of beginnings and discoveries to look for, new realizations to be had. Only you weren’t scared of being alone. If you weren’t looking close enough, Yukhei would be there to help put the pieces together. Other days, he would stand by as you figured it all out on your own and vice versa. Either way, the two of you could be as slow or fast-paced as you wanted to, knowing the other would be there to set things back into place. If that’s what love was supposed to be, you never wanted to miss out on it.

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted to my writing blog on tumblr (@chwepen if you'd like to find me there too ♡)!


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